Rules and Preparation

Preparation and Rules

How does a Model United Nations work? First, the presentation of a set of issues must be discussed. Next, delegates select a country to represent at the conference. Each delegate then prepares a document presenting the position of the assigned county on the issues, complete with a resolution. The delegates then make an oral presentation of those issues using the established rules of debate and procedure. The delegates then attempt to come to an agreement about the issue through debate and negotiation. Once an agreement is reached by a majority of the conference, a resolution is passed representing the policy statement of the body as a whole. It’s simple: Rules, Research, Role-playing, and Resolutions.

NATIONS YOU CAN REPRESENT

Fourteen states originally invited:

selected Non-African states:

Selected African Nations:

Austria-Hungary
Belgium
Denmark
France
Germany
Great Britain
Italy
The Netherlands
Portugal
Russia
Spain
Sweden-Norway
Ottoman Empire
United States

Afghanistan
Arabia
China
Greece
India
Japan
Serbia
Siam

Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

Ashanti (Ghana)

Bagirmi (Chad)

Boers (Dutch, S Africa)

Borgu (E Nigeria, W Benin)

Congo (Rep. of Congo)

Dahomey (Benin)

Darfur (W Sudan)

Egypt

Futa (Guinea)

Gambia

Hausa (N Nigeria, W Niger)

Hutu (Rwanda & Burundi)

Ibo (S & E Nigeria)

Kikuyu (Kenya)

Kordofan (Central Sudan)

Kuba (Dem. Rep. of Congo)

Liberia

Luba (SE Congo)

Lunda (S Congo, W Zambia, NE Angola)

Morocco

Segou (Mali)

Shilluk (S Sudan)

Shona (Zimbabwe)

Tripoli (Libya)

Tunisia

Tutsi (Rwanda & Burundi)

Wadai (Chad)

Xhosa (Swaziland)

Yatenga (Burkina Faso)

Yoruba (Nigeria)

Zande (C. Afr. Rep., Dem. Rep. of Congo, Sudan)

Zanzibar (Tanzania)

Zulu (S Africa)

RULES
After the initial roll-call, the first order of business at any Model UN Conference is setting the agenda. The agenda is the order in which the Assembly will consider the topics placed before it. Delegates may begin making motions proposing an agenda, and the Chairman will call for volunteers to speak for and against the proposed order of business. The proposed agenda will then be put to an immediate vote. When a specific agenda is passed, substantive debate on the chosen issue will begin. Every parliamentary body has a set of rules that govern the procedures used to conduct business, and effective participation in the conference requires a familiarity with these rules. Some of the more common rules and motions which govern Model United Nations Conferences are given below. Normally, debate will begin in a very general way, with delegates making policy statements and suggesting broad solutions. After the main issues have been outlined and individual country positions established, there will be a motion for a caucus. A caucus is an informal meeting within the Assembly for the purpose of negotiation, persuasion, and compromise. Nations with common interests—usually referred to as a “bloc”....often meet during caucuses in order to write proposals, agree on diplomatic strategies, and exert their influence on undecided or uncommitted nations.

RULES OF PRECEDENCE

Point of Order	Used to point out a violation of the rules or to ask the Chairman to establish quiet
Point of Parliamentary Inquiry	Used to ask a question about Parliamentary procedure
Point of Personal Privilege	Used if you want to be excused for a short time
Motion to set the Agenda	Used to recommend the order of consideration of the issues presented to the Assembly
Motion to Caucus	Used to request an informal meeting for a specific purpose and time
Introduction of Working Papers	Working Papers must have at least six signatures by sponsoring nations and the approval of the Chairman before they can be introduced. They are not full resolutions, and are therefore not constrained to the required format.
Introduction of a Resolution	Resolutions must have at least six signatures by sponsoring nations and the approval of the Chairman before they can be introduced for consideration by the Assembly in this simulation
Closure of Debate	Brings a Resolution, Amendment or Agenda to an immediate vote
Adjournment of the Meeting	May only be proposed at the end of the session and with the approval of the Chairman

RESEARCH
Researching your country in the library or over the internet is important so that you understand your county’s interests and concerns. This will allow you to represent your assigned nation intelligently, and to act “in character” even when specific information about a topic may not be available. However, researching your assigned country properly also involves some writing. A delegate would not be fully prepared for a conference without a solid position paper. The purpose of the position paper is to give you an opportunity to assemble your research into an organized policy statement. A position paper should be concise, accurate, well written, and clear. Each paper should be edited carefully; give the paper to a group of your peers to have it reviewed for content, grammar, and spelling before you take it with you to the conference. A good position paper will also provide same suggestions for resolving the problem at hand. This will give you an advantage when it comes to proposing Resolutions in the General Assembly.

ROLE-PLAYING
The largest part of a Model United Nations conference is accurately playing the role called for by your country assignment, and the delegate who knows this will do well. You must always remember that you are not just an individual, but the acting representative of a sovereign nation. This means that there will be times when you will have to put your individual beliefs and values aside in order to argue for the fundamental national interests of the country you are representing. You should be able to set national priorities on the issues at hand, and be able to distinguish between a policy which can be negotiated for the sake of a greater good, and a position which absolutely cannot be compromised. Delegates must therefore be familiar the geography, history, culture, politics, and alliances of the country they are representing, as well as that country’s general positions on the topics to be discussed.

RESOLUTION
At some point, a group of delegates who have been working on a proposal will find that they have enough support to formally bring their resolution to the floor for debate. A resolution may be a general statement or a specific directive; it can condemn the actions of specific states, call for some form of collective action, or require specific economic or military action be taken by the member nations. More than one proposal may be on the floor at any given time, but once a resolution has passed it becomes the official policy of the United Nations, so it is necessary to keep in mind the specific capabilities of the governing body.

A resolution is generally one long sentence. It begins with the Subject, then uses what are known as Preambulatory Phrases to describe the resolution’s intent and motivation before moving on to describe the specific action which is being taken by the Assembly in the Operative Clause. Diplomatic communication requires sensitivity, and the appropriate use of language and protocol is essential. A word or phrase can mean the difference between success and failure. Therefore, you must always be precise in the language you employ when writing a resolution, and it is generally required that specific phrases be used to introduce each separate clause in any resolution.

The first section of a Resolution is the list of Preambulatory Phrases. These phrases state the nature of the problem and establish the reasons and precedents for the actions, which will be outlined in the second half of the resolution. The first word of each clause is underlined, and each clause ends with a comma.

Preambulatory Phrases
Acknowledging	Emphasizing	Hoping
Affirming	Expecting	Keeping in mind
Alarmed by	Expressing its satisfaction	Noting with regret
Approving	Fulfilling	Noting with satisfaction
Aware of	Fully alarmed	Noting with deep concern
Believing	Fully aware	Noting further
Bearing in mind	Fully believing	Noting with approval
Cognizant of	Further deploring	Observing
Confident	Further recalling	Realizing
Contemplating	Guided by	Reaffirming
Convinced	Having adopted	Recalling
Declaring	Having considered	Recognizing
Deeply concerned	Having considered further	Referring
Deeply conscious	Having devoted attention	Seeking
Deeply convinced	Having examined	Taking into account
Deeply disturbed	Having heard	Taking note
Deeply regretting	Having received	Viewing with appreciation
Desiring	Having studied	Welcoming

The second section of a resolution contains the Operative Clauses, the actions that will be taken by the body. These numbered clauses all begin with underlined, present-tense action verbs which are generally stronger than the words used in the preamble. Each operative clause is followed by a semicolon, except for the last one, which ends with a period. (Thus, each resolution is a single, albeit long, sentence.)

Operative Clauses
Accepts	Designates	Reaffirms
Affirms	Emphasizes	Recommends
Approves	Encourages	Regrets
Authorizes	Endorses	Reminds
Calls	Expresses its appreciation	Requests
Calls upon	Expresses its hope	Resolves
Condemns	Further invites	Solemnly affirms
Congratulates	Further proclaims	Strongly condemns
Confirms	Further reminds	Supports
Considers	Further requests	Trusts
Declares accordingly	Has resolved	Takes note of
Deplores	Notes	Urges
Draws attention	Proclaims

As it becomes apparent that debate has reached some sort of conclusion, the Chairman may allow a motion for Closure of Debate. This means that no further discussion on this topic is possible, and all resolutions before the Assembly will be brought to an immediate vote.